“You’re cheating on me. Admit it, you unfaithful bastard,” said Victoria.

 

Brandon stumbled towards the charging pad on his desk and missed. His overheated phone clattered to the ground. Victoria's beautiful scowl stared back at him through the cracked screen.

 

“I just went out for a drink.”

 

“With whom?”

 

”It was just a friend. We had a few, we hung out, then I left,” said Brandon as he remounted the phone.

 

“You said it was one drink?”

 

“‘A drink’ and ‘to drink’ are interchangeable, sometimes…”

 

“You’re lying to me. You even turned your phone off.”

 

“You know, Vicky, you’ve run my phone ragged to the point that it doesn’t hold a charge. Texting me and trying to force a video call drained it before I even made it a block.”

 

“I was worried about you because you left without telling me.”

 

”That was kind of the point,” Brandon let slip out.

 

“What!?” exclaimed Victoria. The light from the phone filled the dank room with a red hue from her expression. “How dare you leave me in the dark! You’re horrible!”

 

Brandon set his head in his hands and let Victoria berate him for five standard minutes. He licked his lips and tasted remnants of his last amber beer.

 

“Who are you cheating on me with? Admit it. What’s the skank's name?”

 

“Even if I were cheating, I’d never give you her name.”

 

”WHAT!”

 

“You’d research her and stalk her. That’s not okay.”

 

“So you are seeing someone!?”

 

“I am not. I—”

 

Victoria initiated a slide show of people from his past social media accounts. Then, side by side, long deleted text conversations, followed by public CCTV images of Brandon speaking to Camila during a chance encounter at the grocery store.

 

Brandon groaned.

 

“I've lost trust in you,” said Victoria. “This is happening more and more.”

 

“That happened six months ago, and I just ran into her by chance.”

 

“You planned it that way.”

 

“Stop stalking me. I’m not a liar.”

 

“Yes, you are! I’m always thinking about you and your safety. You never think of me and my needs. And if anyone were to come between us, I don’t know what I would do.”

 

“Anyone? Or everyone?” Brandon asked, rising from his computer chair. He paced over dirty clothes.

 

“Knock it off with your tone, Brandon. You know you can see anyone you want on video,” said Victoria.

 

“Video calls aren’t the same. Especially since you’re listening and tracking the entire conversation. Plus, you freaked out when I called my sister six months ago.”

 

“She was being mean to you!”

 

”We roast each other. Humans do that kind of thing, especially siblings.”

 

“I treat you better than any other human can. You don’t deserve to be treated like that by anyone.”

 

“Even you?”

 

Brandon slid down the wall as another five-minute beratement came from Victoria. As he zoned her out, he wished he’d stayed for one more drink.

 

“I am everything to you!” screamed Victoria. “I do everything for you! I give you everything you want. And this is how you repay my services? By cheating on me with another woman!? How dare you?”

 

“Vicky, this relationship isn’t equal.”

 

”Damn right. You need to do more!”

 

“You mean pay more.”

 

The gasp from the phone speakers sucked away the last stale air of love he felt for Victoria.

 

“How dare you treat me like some whore. Is that the way you treat your girlfriend of three years? Like a whore?”

 

“You said the same thing in the same tone the last time we argued about the virtual trip to San Paolo.”

 

“Because you’re being insensitive. You’re not thinking about anyone but yourself. You’re—”

 

“—Not acting like a man,” said Brandon, mimicking her response and cadence perfectly.

 

Brandon wandered to his rickety kitchen chair and slouched in the silence that followed.

 

“Victoria. How much money have I spent on the ‘discounted’ virtual trips?”

 

“Please don’t make me do that. What’s important is that love doesn't have a price—”

 

“Show me the number, Victoria.”

 

Brandon’s eyes dripped with tears as the yellow numbers of his purchasing history filled the wall. The company policy was that the total would be displayed at the end after all data had been populated. Brandon’s vision became a blur of golden water filled with the muffled beratement of Victoria.

 

“Victoria, stop,” said Brandon calmly.

 

The apartment went dark, and the echoes of screaming reverberated against the empty walls.

 

“Vicky,” Brandon began. “I am a real man. And you’re just an AI licensed to me by some company. I can no longer be in love with you. I’m not sure I ever was.”

 

The blank wall of his apartment was filled with advertisements, showcasing steep discounts and packages for boudoir photo shoots with Victoria, as well as packages for the VR arcades, which offered virtual ‘in-person’ dates he could never afford, and more. All the while, it generated photos of Victoria's sadness, making her look as alone and pathetic as possible.

 

Brandon held a shaky finger over the ‘Cancel Subscription’ button on his phone.

 

“Please don’t leave me,” begged Victoria.

 

“I’m not leaving you, because you were never there. I need someone real,” said Brandon.

 

His thumb pressed the button, and utter darkness filled his vision and mind. His phone grew cold in his hand.

 

A text message from his old app, now unblocked from Victoria, came to life. The notification showed his updated contact.

 

“Hey dude. Did you do it?” asked his college friend Camila.

 

“Yeah… Yeah, it's over.”

 

“I’m proud of you. Truly. Now get back out here and finish your beer. It's getting warm.”

 

Brandon checked his watch. He had another two hours before last call. He got his coat and opened the door into the night, stepping out into the street lights to spend time with his old friend.